Fiesta Bowl proceeds allocated to eight academic priorities

Author: Don Wycliff

fiesta_bowl_release.gif

From job placement assistance for spouses of new hires to equipment for the new Jordan Hall of Science, the University of Notre Dames academic side has begun to reap the dividends from the Fighting Irish football teams appearance last January in the Fiesta Bowl.

In a letter this week to the faculty, Notre Dames president, Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., announced that he and Provost Thomas Burish had agreed on the allocation of the $11.2 million remaining after the University paid all expenses associated with the bowl appearance.

The money was divided as follows:

  • Retrospective purchases for the library and other library needs – $1.5 million
  • Endowing job placement services for spouses of new hires – $1 million
  • Equipment for Jordan Hall – $2.7 million
  • Undergraduate student need-based financial aid endowment – $2 million
  • Graduate student financial aid endowment – $2 million
  • Increase endowed undergraduate summer research slots by 10 – $1 million
  • Architecture graduate student aid – $500,000
  • Master of business administration student aid – $500,000

While most athletic programs are subsidized by the universitys operating budget, our athletic department provides significant resources for the academy every year, even when the team does not participate in a bowl,Father Jenkins said in his letter to the faculty.Appearances in major bowl games provide additional revenue for academic priorities.

Father Jenkins lauded thespirit of cooperation and mutual support between our athletic department and the academyand expressed thanks toour football team and the whole athletic department, under the superb leadership of (director of athletics) Kevin White.

Over the past quarter century, revenue from bowl games (not including this years Fiesta Bowl) has given the University more than $69 million that, along with a substantial portion of the proceeds from the Universitys football contract with NBC, have provided more than 2,000 scholarships to Notre Dame students.

TopicID: 18742